


Silent Confession

by SemiPoly



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Deaf Character, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Language, Promptis - Freefrom, References to Depression, Romance, my poor golden chocobo child i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-10-25 22:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10773510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SemiPoly/pseuds/SemiPoly
Summary: When Prompto woke up again, he was in a hospital and that was the start of a whole new world for him.  It was a nasty fall and it was all that was needed to rob him of all the sounds and voices from the world.A world with nothing but silence.





	1. Mute Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Ruka-senpai for being my beta. Muah!  
> Thank you to my beloved waifu Ying for listening to the stupid ideas I have for this fic! Kissu~ Muuuuahh!!!

The sound of the clock ticking at midnight, the passing conversation from strangers or maybe just a simple shutter sound of the camera... All these sound seem so insignificant at the time. One never know to appreciate something they take for granted and believes it’ll last forever. But in reality, anything could happen.

 

Prompto opened his eyes. He looked around slowly. He was in an unfamiliar room: faded grey walls, windows with light blue curtains, weird machines with many wires; some which were connected to him, a shiny metal bed-side table and an empty uncomfortable-looking vinyl chair next to it. He took a deep breath, lungs filling up with the scent of medical alcohol and bleached floor.

 

“A hospital?” Prompto mumbled.

 

Right then a girl in a nurse uniform entered the room. She paused, looking at him in surprise and opening her mouth, seemingly saying something before quickly leaving the room.

 

That was when Prompto realized something. Everything around him, everything was too quiet. Quickly the blond sat up and took a good look again at his surrounding. He noticed that the weird machine was actually reading what he thinks is his heart rate; the graph was going up and down. Now from what he saw on television, the machine would give out that “beep beep” sound right? But he heard… nothing.

Hesitantly, Prompto said his name out loud.

 

“............ …………………”

Nothing. He tried again, louder this time.

 

“............ …………………!!!!”

Only silence filled his eardrums. Uncontrollably, the blond’s whole body started to shake.

 

“..........................................................................................!!!!!!!!”

He screamed, His hands clenching onto his white hospital shirt.

 

No, no, no. Why? Why?! Why couldn’t he hear anything?! Prompto panicked. He screamed, yet… nothing but silence echoed back.

 

Immediately, a doctor and a few nurses rushed into the room. They held him down, trying to calm the blond. Reflected in his eyes, all of these people were talking, saying something. To him? To each other? Prompto couldn’t read them.

 

 _“What are you all talking about?! I… I can’t… What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I…. ……….”_ he cried his heart out.

 

… and then, everything went blank.

 

* * *

He was eighteen when it happened.

 

_“Meet me by the main city fountain, 8PM? There’s sth i want to tell u.”_

That was the text Prompto got from Noctis before he started his part-time job shift. When the job was over, an off-season rain began pouring down and Prompto was 30 minutes late, like somehow those were all planned. Thus, he began running.

 

Upon seeing his best friend from afar, still standing by the fountain, soaking in the rain waiting for him, Prompto’s heart fluttered and he dashed even quicker across the empty square toward the raven-haired.

Right then fate played a cruel card on him.

 

In a tic of a second, the blond suddenly found himself losing balance over the slippery ground. He fell backwards, hitting his head on the hard, cold pavement.

Head felt fuzzy, Prompto laid still, trying to process what was going on. He saw a figure rushing up next to him. Noctis? His best friend was calling out to him, saying something but it was too small to hear.

 

“Noct, you said something? C-can you speak louder? I can’t hear you.” he said, his head still fuzzy.

 

He saw the prince pause, his eyes filled with concern. Noctis open his mouth again but before Prompto could heard anything, he felt a sharp pain through his brain and then the world suddenly shut down on him.

 

When Prompto woke up again, he was in a hospital and that was the start of a whole new world for him.  It was a nasty fall and it was all that was needed to rob him of all the sounds and voices from the world.

A world with nothing but silence.

 

Noctis came to visited many times but Prompto refused to see his best friend. Not like this. He didn’t want Noctis to see him like this, a cripple who would just be a handicap to his friend. A new ‘him’... a broken man.

 

After leaving the hospital, Prompto tore up all his college invitation letters. He didn’t bother with his studies anymore. He caged himself in his small apartment studio, the blond watched as days, then weeks, then months passed by.

 

Prompto remembered one time Noctis came. The raven was really worried about his best friend, especially when the blond kept on avoiding him like this.

Prompto remembered the screams he couldn’t hear from his own voice as he begged Noctis to leave him alone.

Prompto remembered trashing every earphones, speakers in the apartment and even his MP3 player right in front of Noctis in frustration.

Prompto remembered his best friend quietly leave as he had asked.

 

The next day, the blond woke up to an envelope from the prince slipped underneath his door. He picked the letter up and threw it at the trash bin by the bookshelf without reading it. The envelope flew up in the air and landed, missing the target.


	2. Unheard Voices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Ruka-senpai for helping me out again with the fic. Muah!  
> I was listening to "white silence" by Ling Tosite Sigure while writing this so my mood kinda followed the song.

****Winter came earlier this year.

Prompto took a deep breath, filling both his lungs with that chilly December air. He strolled along the sidewalk to the subway station, making his way back to the apartment studio.

His world was still the same: quiet, drenched in silence.

 

Quitting university proved to be a challenge for the blond, to find a new suitable job after he resigned from his former one because of his condition. Prompto was struggling  for quite a while.

Fortunately, a friend of his named Ignis decided to hire him for his shop to bake pastries and take photos of them for catalogs. It was enough to pay the rent and buy films for his camera so he was satisfied with that.

Plus, the work acted as a distraction to the silent void that had swallowed him whole for these past years.

 

The bitterness inside him still continued as Prompto moved through his life ignoring his surroundings. While crossing the busy street, suddenly two guys bumped into Prompto. Unperturbed, he continued on his way. However, the other two men roughly grabbed Prompto, clearly unhappy.

Ten seconds later, Prompto found himself in a tight corner of the alleyway, forcefully dragged there, and  shoved against the wall with hands tightly on the shoulder by one of them while the other blocked his way.

 

“Fucking brat, didn’t you hear me?” the man blocking his path growled, “You think you can bump into me and walk off while I was talking to you?! Think you can ignore me like that?!”

 

Prompto blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, I can’t hear what you are saying so could yo-”

 

“Haha, playing deaf now are we? Then let me fucking spell it out for you again…” the man in front said as his hand formed into a fist while the other shoved the poor blond forward.

 

“Wait! Please, I…”  Prompto cried out, he held both his hands up, bracing for the painful punch.

 

But nothing happened. All Prompto felt was the hand that was squeezing his shoulder being knocked off, then felt a vibration of something falling hard onto the ground. An unknow arm suddenly wrapped around his waist, pulling the blond into a tight embrace. Right away, Prompto recognized the nostalgic scent he thought he had forgotten a long time ago.

Hesitantly looking up, the blond found himself staring at a familiar face: it was Noctis, his best friend. The prince was holding him in one arm, shielding the blond while his other hand was blocking the punch. Behind, other man was knocked over on the ground.

 

“If anyone should be apologizing here it’s you, you bastards! Now back off from him or I’ll make sure you can’t even walk back home!” Noctis warned as he broke off the attack, making the older man stumble to the side.

 

“Motherfucker, you think you can threaten me?! We will see about tha-” he was up on his feet again, ready for a fight when a large, bold figure cut in.

 

“Is there a problem here?” said the man with tattoo of a bird of prey on his arms as he stood in between the attacker and the two boys. The tall man loomed over everyone as the men looked up in shock at the sudden intruder. It was Gladiolus, Noctis’s martial arts trainer.

 

After that, things finally settled down as both the men quickly apologized and fled the scene.

 

Noctis turned to Prompto as the blond was still trembling from what just happened.

 

 _“You okay?”_ the prince asked, using sign language.

 

Prompto looked at his best friend in surprise. He never used sign language before. “I’m fine. But Noct… when did you…?”

 

 _“I kinda learned it after… I just.. Well I’m not good with it so…”_ Noctis signed back answering, face flustered.

 

“Haha, well you can just talk direct to me, just make it slower a bit. I can still make out the words. Or just type them out on your phone, I don’t mind.” the blond chuckled.

 

Then he paused, realizing something. It’s been a really long time since they both see each other again, three years to be exact. The last time they talked… well, it ended with Prompto emotionally breaking down right in front of his best friend and watched him leave like he had asked.

… And now they were talking like old times again. Like that memory never happened. Suddenly Prompto felt like crying, he didn’t know how to react. Reuniting with Noctis again like this, having the prince shielding him after screaming to his face three years ago, ‘I don’t want you in my life! Just leave me alone!’

 

Noticing Prompto’s expression, Noctis quickly turned to Gladio: “Hey big guy, you don’t mind walking home by yourself today?”

 

“I understand. Be careful, okay?” the tattooed men nodded. He then watched as the the two boys headed down to the subway station.

 

“You know, you don’t have to do this. I’ll be okay on my own, Noct.” Prompto said as they both sat down next to each other.

 

“I know. … just think of this as a catching up then. We haven’t chat for so long.” the prince smile gently at his friend.

 

Prompto heart skipped a beat. He shook his head, snapping back to reality. Following after that, they went ahead with their conversation. Noctis made sure that he didn’t talk too fast so Prompto could understand or used signing if possible. Meanwhile Prompto, surprisingly felt so happy just to be able to sit down and chat with the prince like the good old days.

The conversation moved from where Prompt was working, to how Noctis was learning martial arts, then hobbies, family, friends, …

 

“It’s been three years now and you really haven’t changed much huh buddy? Still hate vegetables?”

 

“Don’t! Just don’t talk about that.”

 

…

 

The subway made it to the fifth stop. Through the glass windows, snow started to fall. Noctis stared at the houses and skyscrapers as they began to lit up while the Sun disappeared under the city line. Then he shifted his eyes over to Prompto who had fallen asleep on his shoulder since the third stop.

Gently, the prince brushed his hand in the other boy’s soft golden hair. “I missed you, Promp. I guess you never did read the letter from that day right?”

 

Eyes opened with haziness, Prompto came to realized that he was on Noctis’s back as they were both now standing in the elevator of his apartment. “N-Noct...” he flustered, quickly slided off.

 

 _“You dozed off back there in the subway so I carried you the rest of the way.”_ Noctis signed in reply.

 

“DING!” the door to the elevator opened and the blond stepped out, he turned to Noctis: “T-thank you… for protecting me today.”

 

The prince nodded. “It’s nothing, buddy. Goodnight…”

 

Prompto made his way down the hallway. He didn’t realized Noctis hadn’t ended his sentence yet.

 

Looking at his best friend as the door slowly closing, Noctis gave out a sad smile “Look like I will never get the chance to tell you that I ……………………………”


	3. Pacific Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to Ruka-senpai for being my beta! I love you ~  
> Also, thank you to everyone who supports me with this fic and patiently waiting for this next chapter.
> 
> This chapter was inspired by the song "Wish That You Were Here", performed by Florence + The Machine, I suggest you guys listen to it while reading ^^

****The alarm went off at 4:30AM. Noctis rubbed his eyes as he hazily got up. Stepping into the bathroom, the prince began his usual morning routine. Normally, he hated waking up early and never would have thought to do so, but today was an exception.

 

It has been half a month since the reunion between him and Prompto. It happened so suddenly but somehow it was as if fate had the script all written out when he saw Prompto being dragged to an alleyway by some assholes while on his way home with his friend Gladious. Right then, his body moved on its own, dashing across the busy street through the crowd of people with only one thing on his mind; ‘to protect Prompt.’

When things grew quiet after those two men left, Noctis realized the situation he was now in. What should he do now? They hadn’t seen each other for three years and with their last meeting, Prompto told him that he wasn’t wanted in the blond’s life ever again. Will thing repeated itself? Noctis held his breath as he asked, _“You okay?”_

 

Surprisingly, Prompto didn’t get mad at him like he did few years back. The trembling boy just looked up at him in surprise and then chuckled to the prince, telling him it was alright to talk slowly or just type things out on his phone if he wanted.

Despite the fact that things have calmed down now, Noctis still wants to make sure that the blond got home safely. Gladious was pretty quick to understand what the prince wanted and suddenly said he remembered he had ‘something’ to do somewhere else and had to split. They said goodbye to each other and with that, both Noctis and Prompto made their way subway station, bought the tickets then sat down together.

Things were kinda awkward at first but slowly as they started chatting, it was like old times again. It was like those three years never flew by and there was only _‘now_ ’.

 

That evening, after taking Prompto back to the apartment, the prince found himself wandering back to the fountain where they were supposed to meet three years ago. Letting out a deep sigh, Noctis smiled sadly as he shook his head slowly as he asked himself, “... why are you still here? Everyday… at this hour… for how long now…?”

 

\--

 

Noctis jolted at the text message from his phone, snapping back to the present. He looked at the screen. It was from Prompto.

 

_“Knock knock sleepy head!”_

 

 _“Be there in 15mins”_ the prince smiled as he replied to the text then quickly got dressed, gathering his stuff and bolting out the door.

 

Ever since that fateful reunion, Noctis and Prompto started hanging out together again like back in high school. As much as Noctis was happy to have his best friend back again, he still felt that there was a wall between them.

 

A wall that was blocking his voice, his feeling from reaching Prompto.

A wall of white silence.

 

\----

 

Prompto was staring at his watch as he stood outside the apartment, waiting for Noctis. Why did he decide to do this again?

Two days ago, the weather forecast said that today was going to be a rare sunny day during this winter time. Coincidentally,  it was on the weekend so Noctis suggested they go somewhere on the outskirt of the city.

 

Upon feeling a strong vibration on the ground, Prompto eyed up, greeting Noctis as the other boy pulled up his motorbike by the sidewalk.

 

 _“Morning, Promp! All set to go?”_ the prince signed, even spelling out his name without the ‘T’ and ‘O’ at the end on purpose.

 

“Yep. But I’m impressed that you managed to pull yourself out of bed at this hour, Noct. Hmm…. maybe I’ll have my friend Ignis make you a salad next time? I should introduce you to him one day, he’s a great chef.” the other boy teased, knowing that Noctis hated vegetables when he was younger, and right away got a flicked on the nose.

 

Hoping on the back of the motorbike, Prompto put on his helmet.

 

 _“Hang on tight, going fast today.”_ Noctis signed as he started the engine.

 

“Huh? Wha-” Prompto was mid sentence when the prince took off. Startled, the blond reflexively wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist.

 

Lucis at 5:00AM was like another world. The streets were almost empty, the air damp and cold, the city line was still lit by skyscrapers under the dark foggy December sky.

 

 

They stopped by an outpost, Noctis parked his motorbike there and both boys headed off the cement path.

 

“Uhm… where are we going, Noct?” Prompto questioned as he followed his best friend into the wood. The sky was still so dark that they even had to use flashlights.

 

 _“My secret hideout.”_ the prince typed out on his phone since it was so hard to see in the dark so sign language or lip reading had no use here.

 

After leaving the muddy wood, they began climbing a rocky hill, that was when the blond felt a gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks. “Are we near the sea, Noct? I can pick up that salty scent.”

Noctis didn’t answer. Instead, he helped Prompto climb up the final rock on top of the hill then pointed his hand toward the distance. The blond’s eyes followed the direction the finger was pointing at and they were wide open as he took in the scenery before him.

 

The entire sky was now dyed in the glorious colors of gold and fire. The brilliant shades were so vivid despite how the colors melted into each other.  The early flocks of seagull soared among the high clouds, the ocean gleaming on the surface like speckled diamonds  as the sunlight touched them. The waves splashed against the rocks by the shore and sparkled with iridescent shine.

 

“It’s so beautiful! H-how did you find out about this place?” Prompto awed excitingly as the Pacific wind playfully combed through his golden hair. For a moment there, he swore that he could heard all the sounds of the wonder in front of him again.

 

“Dad used to take me here to go fishing when I was little. Now that he’s too busy with his work, this became my secret spot.” the prince answered, making sure that every words is clearly spoken so that Prompto could easily read his lips.

 

Both boys stood still for a long while, soaking up the moment.

 

\--

 

For the rest of the day, they set up camp and chilled together. Noctis fished while Prompto took photos of the scenery. They chatted and joked around until the Sun started to set.

Gathering up everything, Noctis and Prompto took one last look at the ocean view before leaving.

 

“I’ve never been here before, yet all of these things seem so nostalgic.” Prompto spoke softly. “... thank you for sharing it with me.”

 

Unexpectedly, Noctis stepped up next to the blond, taking off his jacket and covered it over the other boy’s shoulders. _“Prompto, you’re my bestest friend so please don’t ever think that I will look at you differently for any reasons, okay?”_   he signed. 

The prince paused for a bit, seemingly wanting to add something more but then only signed flustered: _“Let’s go. We don’t want you to catch a cold.”_ then quickly turned away.

 

Prompto stood still for moment. “I always thought that I never minded being on my own but…...” he didn’t finish the sentence, just letting the silence continue.

 

On the motorbike ride home, Prompto softly rested his head on Noctis’s back as he closed his eyes.

 

**\------ 4 days later -----**

 

Ignis tapped on Prompto’s shoulder, checking to see if the blond was alright. For the third times already today his mind had been floating off to somewhere else.

 

“Sorry Iggy. I’ll be more focus … hopefully.” the blond apologized as he took leave after finishing his shift.

 

Stepping outside the bakery, Prompto gathered all his courage and made his way to Noctis’ place.

 

“... _Don’t ever think that I will look at you differently for any reasons, okay?”_

The blond remembered clearly every single word of his best friend. So clear that it was as if he had heard Noctis voice speak those words directly to him.

 

These past three years, the blond has been avoiding Noctis and denying his true feeling for the exact same fear so now maybe he could finally send them off.

But once again, fate always seemed to be against him.

 

 

As Prompto was walking passed the shopping district, he noticed his best friend from afar, among the busy crowd on the street.

 

“Noctis! Hey Noct!” he called out, hands waving to try and capture the other boy’s attention. But Noctis didn’t seem to hear him and looked like he was with somebody else, talking to them.

 

Prompto squeezed through the people to get closer to his friend but soon glad that he didn’t got his attention earlier. Quickly hid himself behind a vending machine, then the blond peeked over.

 

The prince was talking with a girl with golden champagne hair. She was smiling so happily and same with Noctis. As their conversation continued, the two entered a tailor wedding dress shop.

 

He forgot. He wasn’t a part of that world anymore. A world with sounds and voices.

“ _Words_ ”, “ _voices_ ” that was how people express their feelings to one another and as for Prompto, … he couldn’t reached them anymore.

The blond couldn’t believed he forgot the silent void that he was swallowed into. Funny huh? For a second there, he thought he had escaped. What was he thinking?

 

Yes, he now knew Noctis would never change the way he looked at him and Prompto was very thankful for it. But his best friend still deserved someone better than him. Someone that was not _broken_.

 

 _“I never minded being on my own…”_ Prompto mumbled as he sighed to himself, heart aching as his own lie pierced right through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Prompto, i love to make and see you suffer... ( ^ q ^ )

**Author's Note:**

> Eyyyyy, say "hello" to me on tumblr: http://semi-poly.tumblr.com/


End file.
